Cricket Flour: Benefits & Nutrition

The use of cricket flour as a protein source is increasing in popularity, but there are a few things you should know before adding this insect flour to your diet.

What is Cricket Flour?

Cricket flour is alternative to grain-based flours that are made of powdered crickets. Also known as cricket powder, this is a surprisingly nutrient-dense food if you can get past the fact that you’re eating ground-up insects. Crickets are edible and are featured in many cultures as a delicacy. Cricket flour has a mild and nutty taste, far from unpleasant, and the health benefits more than what makes up for the strange source.

Nutritional Facts

Unlike most grain-based flours, cricket powder doesn’t contain high levels of carbohydrates but is instead composed mainly of protein, dietaryfiber, unsaturated fat, and various vitamins and minerals. The protein content is particularly impressive since it is an animal product; this flour contains roughly 13 grams of protein in a 100-gram serving, about half of the protein you can acquire from beef.

How to Make Cricket Flour?

If you want to add cricket flour to your diet, you can actually make your own cricket flour at home, but it is a rather intensive process and is much easier to buy cricket flour from a larger company.

Step 1: Acquire a large number of crickets (200-300 for a single batch).

Step 2: Dry the crickets in a dehydrator, freeze them or dry them in an oven.

Step 3: Grind the dried crickets thoroughly.

Step 4: Sift the ground crickets to remove the thicker parts that don’t grind down as well.

Step 5: Sift through a thinner grain to produce a smooth and even flour.

After making the flour, you can use it to make bread, pancakes, smoothies, and cookies, often by using a slightly smaller amount of cricket powder than the recipe calls for of regular flour.

John Staughton is a traveling writer, editor, and publisher who earned his English and Integrative Biology degrees from the University of Illinois in Champaign, Urbana (USA). He is the co-founder of a literary journal, Sheriff Nottingham, and calls the most beautiful places in the world his office. On a perpetual journey towards the idea of home, he uses words to educate, inspire, uplift and evolve.

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